


In Another Life

by HeroesandWoes



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Angst, Breakup, Car Accidents, Character Death, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Songfic, did i go overboard?probably, i am sad and so they shall be, i still don't know how to tag, impulse is big sad, zed is here for support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:28:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29937588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeroesandWoes/pseuds/HeroesandWoes
Summary: Tango and Impulse were happy. But good things were not meant to last.Inspired by The One That Got Away.
Relationships: impulseSV/Tango Tek (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	In Another Life

**Author's Note:**

> After taking an unexpectedly long break, I have returned with a fic! Enjoy!

He never expected to fall in love.

His plan has always been simple, go to college, graduate, work.

Until he met him.

He was revising for an exam when a blond haired boy caught his eye. Impulse’s concentration immediately broke, instead focusing on the person a few tables over. His face was scrunched up looking at the array of textbooks scattered on the table, fidgeting with the pen in his hand.

‘ _Go talk to him,’_ a voice in his head said, the mystery man definitely piqued his interest, _‘What if I mess it up?’_ he replied to himself. The blond was still poring over the books— which, taking a closer look, Impulse realized were redstone—and was now running is hand through is hair. _‘You have something in common! Now go talk to him!’_ the voice was making more sense than Impulse liked to admit and he conceded, standing up and making his was to the other student. “C’mon Impulse, you got this just talk to him,” he muttered to himself. He really did not want to mess this up, he has one chance and he’d be an idiot not to take it.

“Hey, I saw that you were studying about redstone?”

‘ _Awkward way to start a conversation Impulse, real awkward.’_ he chastised himself.

The boy looked up from his work, and Impulse was met with warm brown eyes, rich in color and staring right into his soul. “Oh, yeah I was,” he smiled and gestured to the textbook in front of him, “I just can’t seem to understand this one part about villagers,”

It took all of Impulse’s willpower not to smile like an idiot right there and then, villager redstone was one of his specialties! He could offer to help and they could get to know each other!

“Could I help? I’m pretty decent when it comes to villagers, and I’m not that busy right now,”

The other appeared to be weighing the offer, looking at the his display of textbooks and back at Impulse.

‘ _Please say yes, please say yes, please say—’_

“Sure, I could use all the help I could get at this point,”

‘ _YES!’_

“Besides, who am I to pass up an opportunity to get to know a handsome guy?” he grinned smugly, and Impulse could feel himself warm up, “I—I’ll go get my stuff,” he quickly left back to his area, gathering his items and hoping he would stop blushing, transferring his belongings to the other table, he sat across to the blond.

“I never got your name, I’m Impulse,”

“Nice to meet you Impulse, my name is Tango.”

_**Summer after high school, when we first met** _

_**We make out in your Mustang to Radiohead** _

_**And on your eighteenth birthday, we got matching tattoos** _

It has been 10 months since they met, and 4 months since Tango asked Impulse to date him.

Impulse came over to Tango’s place along with their best friend Zedaph, the duo decided to sleep over at Tango’s, which resulted in a movie marathon, which they got bored of and resulted in their current situation, Impulse was draped on the couch, Tango was on a separate chair, quietly strumming his guitar humming a simple tune, while Zedaph sat on the floor, saying he was “fine with being the third wheel”, the only one still paying attention to the film.

Impulse stopped minding the film long ago, instead savoring every second of this moment. Two of the most important people to him here, the love of his life by his side and his best friend supporting them both. Impulse tilted his head to gaze at his lover—bold, bright eyes he has grown to love, sharp features he cherished with all his being, lost in playing the instrument. Saying he loved Tango was an understatement, he would be a completely different person had he not met him that day, had he not the courage to approach him and talk to him, it was safe to say he would be lost.

_***_

“That didn’t hurt as much as I thought,”

“Easy for you to say! I’m not the one with high pain tolerance!”

Impulse examined the inked skin, black outlined with red from irritation. They had both decided to get tattoos. After planning for quite a while now, with Zedaph suggesting they have something incredibly stupid (“No Zed, I will not have that on my skin,”), they finally settled on a design, simple light bulbs on their wrists with each other’s initials underneath.

“Now I always have you with me wherever I go,” he said to the other man, taking his hand in his.

“That you do,” Tango replied, kissing Impulse’s forehead, “and I am never going to leave you.”

_**Used to steal your parents’ liquor and climb to the roof** _

_**Talk about our future like we had a clue** _

_**Never planned that one day, I’d be losing you** _

They supported each other in everything, Impulse was there in Tango’s first performance in a talent contest, Tango helped Impulse accomplish his redstone projects, they listen to each other ramble about anything and everything, and bore each other’s problems together.

They sat on his rooftop, after raiding his parents’ liquor cabinet for a few drinks. Considering the faint red hue to Tango’s skin and his unfocused eyes, Impulse guessed the other drank more than he did. Impulse’s parents fought for the fifth time that week. He was getting tired of it all, his workload increased that week, and his parents’ arguments didn’t help. Tango had offered to come over, and Impulse gratefully accepted.

“... about those things y’know? I never know what’s going to happen,” Tango rambled on, Impulse intently listened to every word.

“You don’t have to worry Tango, I’m sure you’d do great in whatever you wanted to do,” Impulse reassured, the blond was asking Impulse for advice—they were going to graduate soon and Tango was intent on pursuing redstone engineering.

Tango took everything in stride, he was a blazing fire, you would expect him to burn everything in his path, but you would be met with gentle warmth like an embrace, providing heat in an otherwise cold world. He would carve the world with his determination. Impulse was convinced he could change the world with his skill alone.

With Tango tackling everything in breakneck speed, Impulse became his anchor. Impulse was the one who slowed the world down for Tango, reminded him to take in the finer details and appreciate the moment.

“Here’s an idea,” Tango said, looking closely at Impulse, “you should take redstone with me,”

“What? No, that’s not a good idea—”

“Why not? C’mon Impulse, I’ve seen your designs, you could really go places with that brain of yours,” he persuaded.

See, Impulse wasn’t confident with his abilities. He could make a wicked contraption with his eyes closed, but he was convinced there was someone else who could do better. They had friends who could make paintings that could come to life, combine notes to make the most complex songs, Impulse wasn’t unique.

But Tango didn’t care. Impulse made the darkest nights light up with his optimism, he could cheer up anyone with his voice. He could wrangle villagers into the redstone contraptions like nobody’s business, even Tango can’t do it that effectively.

“Impulse. You are an amazing person,” he continued, “you may not see it, but everyone else does,”

Impulse chuckled, “You must have had too much to drink,”

“No, no, no. Drunk or not, I’m tellin’ the truth,”

“You’re smart, and creative, and just a wonderful person. I’m blessed to be with someone like you, and I want to be together in this, I want to be with you,”

Impulse stared at Tango. Every word was so heartfelt and sincere he his heart could burst. He wanted to be with Tango, he just needed to have more faith in himself, ‘Don’t hesitate now,’ he thought to himself.

“Okay.”

Tango wrapped his arms around him, “We’ll be with each other every step of the way,”

* * *

_**And in another life, you would be my guy** _

_**We keep all our promises, be us against the world** _

_**In another life, I would make you stay** _

_**So I don’t have to say you were the one that got away** _

Impulse had many regrets, none hurt as much as this.

He stood by the cliff side, overlooking the water. Today was the day his heart broke into a million pieces.

~~He watched the news in horror, seeing the car set ablaze~~

So many thoughts raced in his mind, many ‘what ifs’ and ‘if onlys’ plagued him, _‘if only I made an effort’_ , _‘what if he never left’_ , _‘if only he was standing here with me instead_ _—‘_

His eyes blurred with tears, threatening to fall on the ground. He missed him. He missed him so much. So many things were left unsaid, they could’ve made amends, they could’ve fixed things but now they can’t because he’s gone—

~~His heart died that day, realizing his love was dead~~

Tears finally streamed down his face, Impulse could no longer keep it together. What was the point, he’s alone, no one else would see him.

“I miss you Tango, I miss you so much,” it hurt more saying it aloud, he would never hear his laugh again, never feel his embrace and see him smile.

“I should’ve done something, I should’ve told you how much I loved you,”

~~A truck collided with his car driving it off the cliff~~

‘This is it,’ he thinks, ‘I’ve officially gone crazy,’

“If you could hear me Tango, wherever you are, I’m sorry,” Impulse sobbed, “I never meant for it to end this way,”

“I know it’s been a year since the accident, but it still hurts,”

~~Everything was on fire and no body was found~~

“I would turn back time if I could Tango, I would do anything just to have you here with me,” His friends were there for him, especially Zedaph. They both lost someone important to them, even if Tango already left him at the time, he still owned Impulse’s heart.

* * *

_**You were dreaming I was your Johnny Cash** _

_**Never one without the other, we made a pact** _

_**Sometimes when I miss you I put those records on** _

Everyone called them the “power couple”. Soulmates.

Impulse believed them.

How could they not be? You would seldom see them far away from each other. They knew each other best, and it was obvious to anyone with feelings that they were made for each other.

But good things were never made to last.

Every couple had their disagreements, Impulse and Tango were no different. They would argue about things, but make up shortly after.

Not this time.

Both of them were stressed. Their jobs were demanding more of them than usual, and the couple was still on edge after their argument a few days ago, a small thing could make both of them tick.

Tango was the first to speak, approaching him warily, “There’s an event my team is gonna attend, I was hoping you could come with me,”

“Sorry Tango, I’m busy this week,”

“Again? I’m just asking you to come with me this once,” The blond’s voice was beginning to rise, “You’ve been busy this whole month, you barely have time left for anything!”

“I’m busy? What do you call yourself? You’re the one who barely comes home, and when you do, its late at night! You can’t call me busy when you’ve done worse!”

They were getting more and more agitated. Something bad was bound to happen, one would snap at the other, and it would escalate into a storm, bigger than it has ever been.

“Does this still even matter to you?” Impulse gestured between them, “I know you want to succeed but that doesn’t mean you can just forget about us,”

“I—It does! I didn’t forget about you Impulse.” Tango began to pace around the house, running his hand through his hair.

“Then what’s going on? Why are you suddenly so distant?” the other questioned, Impulse’s mind was racing, conjuring fake narratives, making him overthink their interactions, “Was it something I did? Something I said?”

Tango sighed, shoulders slumped. This was not working out, both of them felt like they couldn’t breathe, the atmosphere was constricting—their minds were clouded with anger and pent up stress and frustration.

“We—we might need some space, away for awhile,” the blond spoke, “give ourselves some time to think,”

“... You’re probably right,” Impulse sighed, he doesn’t want it to end here, not like this. He loved Tango, with all his being, they were just... not in a good place at the moment.

_**Someone said you had your tattoo removed** _

_**Saw you downtown singing the blues** _

_**It’s time to face the music, I’m no longer your muse** _

A break did both of them good, the time spent away from each other was used to reflect, see where they went wrong, and how they could do better. Tango left to stay with Zed for the time being, while Impulse stayed alone in their apartment.

They had to talk, Impulse knew that.

It hurt the lovers more to remain in the dark, having not said a word to each other after that tragedy of a fight. Both sides felt at fault, their errors and mistakes highlighted by their guilt. But they both knew what had to be done. They had to clear things up, make a decision. Whether they’ll get back together—

Or break off completely.

Impulse didn’t want to think about the latter.

***

_**But in another life, you would be my guy** _

_**We keep all our promises, be us against the world** _

Tango had called Impulse, asking him to meet. Zed had convinced him to speak to the brunet, and so here they were now, Impulse waited in the dining room, the meal he’d prepared laid out before him. The night could go many ways, they could get back together and enjoy a nice dinner in peace, or this could be their last as lovers.

Tango was supposed to arrive soon. Impulse tried to settle his nerves with the best of his abilities, to no avail. A multitude of thoughts raced around his head, thoughts of anxiety and hesitation, engulfing him so much that he failed to notice how much time had passed since he sat and waited.

‘ _He should be here by now.’_

Feelings of fear washed over Impulse. He headed over to the living room, turning on the television as a distraction. Surely he was just fine. Maybe he was just stuck in traffic, maybe he had to stop over somewhere. He was only worrying himself over nothing.

A few more minutes passed, and Impulse felt sick with apprehension.

“He’s not there yet? But he left ages ago!”

“I know,” Impulse called Zedaph, asking about Tango, “I tried calling his phone earlier but he wouldn’t pick up,”

“Maybe he’s occupied?”

“I thought so too, but it’s unlike him to be late,”

Zed had no reply. Impulse was pacing around the room by now, running his fingers through his hair. His mind conjured up the worst possible scenarios. _What if he’s injured? What if he’s in trouble? What if he’s_ _—_

_D_ _ead._

His attention was drawn to the television illuminating the room, a news report flashed on the screen, showing burning car off a cliff.

_**In another life, I would make you stay** _

_**So I don’t have to say you were the one that got away** _

“ _No.”_

“Pulse?”

Right. Zed was on the phone.

“Zed? Turn on your TV,” he spoke, voice quivering with barely concealed dread.

“What?”  
  


“Just do it.”

Impulse didn’t know what to feel. He was anxious, yes. But the world was muted around him, emotions blocked by an invisible wall, maybe his mind saving him from the pain of taking everything in all at once. The heap of fire was _almost_ unrecognizable, if it wasn’t for the flame decals on the remaining metal.

‘ _Tango always was one for theatrics.’_

* * *

_**All these money can’t buy me a time machine, no** _

_**I can’t replace you with a million rings, no** _

_**I should’ve told you what you meant to me** _

‘ _ **Cause now I pay the price.**_

**Author's Note:**

> Aannndd thats all for today. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the fic!
> 
> I will be continuing work on other fics soon. As always, constructive criticism is always appreciated!
> 
> -Silver


End file.
